Energy-positive homes built for the future, designed to sell at a premium today
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Project NameEtopia Eco Homes
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RoleProject lead; consortium establishment, concept development, public sector funding engagement
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PartnersEtopia (developer and builder), CHESS-SETUP consortium
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Funded ByEU Horizon 2020 (CHESS-SETUP)
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LocationCorby, Northamptonshire
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TimescalePlanning secured 2017; homes completed from 2018 onwards
The Challenge
The UK housing sector has long struggled with a performance gap: the difference between the energy efficiency a new home is designed to achieve and what it actually delivers in use. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offered a potential solution, but had yet to be proven at scale in a commercially viable, market-facing development. The challenge was to close the performance gap, demonstrate that MMC could produce genuinely energy-positive homes, and prove that buyers would pay a premium for them on the open market.
What we did
Building on the learnings from our original ZEB Homes project, Electric Places established a consortium of leading-edge partners to design and deliver 47 energy-positive modular eco homes in Corby, Northamptonshire. Developed and built by Etopia using structurally insulated panels (SIPs), the homes are equipped with hybrid rooftop solar PV-thermal panels, an Earth Energy Bank ground source heat pump, battery storage, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (MVHR) systems, and smart home automation to maximise energy efficiency in use. The concept attracted public sector support through a Horizon 2020 CHESS-SETUP grant, and all 47 homes have now been built and are selling at a premium compared to equivalent standard homes.
Outcomes
The project is recognised as a BEIS Building for 2050 case study and a SEMLEP Local Industrial Strategy case study — demonstrating its significance as a replicable model for high-performance, commercially viable eco housing. It shows that Modern Methods of Construction, combined with the right technology stack, can close the performance gap at scale while producing homes that buyers genuinely want.